Crisis In The Admiral's Life - 4

Crisis In The Admiral's Life - 4

"Sir,—The loneliness in which you have left us cannot be described. I gave the book

containing my writings to Francisco de Rivarol that he may send it to you with another

copy of letters containing instructions. I beg you to be so kind as to write Don Diego in

regard to the place of security in which you put them. Duplicates of everything will be

completed and sent to you in the same manner and by the same Francisco. Among them

you will find a new document. Their Highnesses promised to give all that belongs to me

and to place Don Diego in possession of everything, as you will see. I wrote to Senor

Juan Luis and to Sefora Catalina. The letter accompanies this one. I am ready to start in

the name of the Holy Trinity as soon as the weather is good. I am well provided with

everything. If Jeronimo de Santi Esteban is coming, he must await me and not embarrass

himself with anything, for they will take away from him all they can and silently leave

him. Let him come here and the King and the Queen will receive him until I come. May

our Lord have you in His holy keeping.

"Done at Seville, March 21, 1502.

"At your command.

.S.

.S.A.S.

Xpo FERENS."

His delays were not pleasing to Ferdinand, who wanted to get rid of him, and he was

invited to hurry his departure; but he still continued to go deliberately about his affairs,

which he tried to put in order as far as he was able, since he thought it not unlikely that he

might never see Spain again. Thinking thus of his worldly duties, and his thoughts

turning to his native Genoa, it occurred to him to make some benefaction out of the riches

that were coming to him by which his name might be remembered and held in honour

there. This was a piece of practical kindness the record of which is most precious to us;

for it shows the Admiral in a truer and more human light than he often allowed to shine

upon him. The tone of the letter is nothing; he could not forbear letting the people of

Genoa see how great he was. The devotion of his legacy to the reduction of the tax on

simple provisions was a genuine charity, much to be appreciated by the dwellers in the

Vico Dritto di Ponticello, where wine and provision shops were so very necessary to life.

The letter was written to the Directors of the famous Bank of Saint George at Genoa.

"VERY NOBLE LORDS,—Although my body is here, my heart is continually yonder.

Our Lord has granted me the greatest favour he has granted any one since the time of

David. The results of my undertaking already shine, and they would make a great light if

the obscurity of the Government did not conceal them. I shall go again to the Indies in the

name of the Holy Trinity, to return immediately. And as I am mortal, I desire my son Don

Diego to give to you each year, for ever, the tenth part of all the income received, in

payment of the tax on wheat, wine, and other provisions. If this tenth amounts to

anything, receive it, and if not, receive my will for the deed. I beg you as a favour to have

this son of mine in your charge. Nicolo de Oderigo knows more about my affairs than I

myself. I have sent him the copy of my privileges and letters, that he may place them in

safe keeping. I would be glad if you could see them. The King and the Queen, my Lords,

now wish to honour me more than ever. May the Holy Trinity guard your noble persons,

and increase the importance of your very magnificent office. "Done in Seville, April a,

1502.

"The High-Admiral of the Ocean-Sea and Viceroy and Governor-General of the islands

and mainland of Asia and the Indies, belonging to the King and Queen, my Lords, and

the Captain-General of the Sea, and a Member of their Council.

.S.

.S.A.S.

X M Y

Xpo FERENS."

Columbus was anxious to touch at Espanola on his voyage to the West; but he was

expressly forbidden to do so, as it was known that his presence there could not make for

anything but confusion; he was to be permitted, however, to touch there on his return

journey. The Great Khan was not out of his mind yet; much in it apparently, for he took

an Arabian interpreter with him so that he could converse with that monarch. In fact he

did not hesitate to announce that very big results indeed were to come of this voyage of

his; among other things he expected to circumnavigate the globe, and made no secret of

his expectation. In the meantime he was expected to find some pearls in order to pay for

the equipment of his fleet; and in consideration of what had happened to the last lot of

pearls collected by him, an agent named Diego de Porras was sent along with him to keep

an account of the gold and precious stones which might be discovered. Special

instructions were issued to Columbus about the disposal of these commodities. He does

not seem to have minded these somewhat humiliating precautions; he had a way of rising

above petty indignities and refusing to recognise them which must have been of great

assistance to his self-respect in certain troubled moments in his life.

His delays, however, were so many that in March 1502 the Sovereigns were obliged to

order him to depart without any more waiting. Poor Christopher, who once had to sue for

the means with which to go, whose departures were once the occasion of so much state

and ceremony, has now to be hustled forth and asked to go away. Still he does not seem

to mind; once more, as of old, his gaze is fixed beyond the horizon and his mind is filled

with one idea. They may not think much of him in Spain now, but they will when he

comes back; and he can afford to wait. Completing his preparations without undignified

haste he despatched Bartholomew with his four little vessels from Seville to Cadiz, where

the Admiral was to join them. He took farewell of his son Diego and of his brother

James; good friendly James, who had done his best in a difficult position, but had seen

quite enough of the wild life of the seas and was now settled in Seville studying hard for

the Church. It had always been his ambition, poor James; and, studying hard in Seville,

he did in time duly enter the sacred pale and become a priest—by which we may see that

if our ambitions are only modest enough we may in time encompass them. Sometimes I

think that James, enveloped in priestly vestments, nodding in the sanctuary, lulled by the

muttering murmur of the psalms or dozing through a long credo, may have thought

himself back amid the brilliant sunshine and strange perfumes of Espanola; and from a

dream of some nymph hiding in the sweet groves of the Vega may have awakened with a

sigh to the strident Alleluias of his brother priests. At any rate, farewell to James, safely

seated beneath the Gospel light, and continuing to sit there until, in the year 1515, death

interrupts him. We are not any more concerned with James in his priestly shelter, but

with those elder brothers of his who are making ready again to face the sun and the

surges.

Columbus's ships were on the point of sailing when word came that the Moors were

besieging a Portuguese post on the coast of Morocco, and, as civility was now the order

of the day between Spain and Portugal, the Admiral was instructed to call on his way

there and afford some relief. This he did, sailing from Cadiz on the 9th or 10th of May to

Ercilla on the Morocco coast, where he anchored on the 13th. But the Moors had all

departed and the siege was over; so Columbus, having sent Bartholomew and some of his

officers ashore on a civil visit, which was duly returned, set out the same day on his last

voyage.